Liturgical Feast of Jesus Christ High and Eternal Priest
On the first Thursday after Pentecost we celebrate the liturgical feast of Jesus Christ High and Eternal Priest.
We live moments of passion for the Church. The infidelity and aberrations of some ministers are exhibited in pillory-infiltrated? Livers? – unworthy, as a generalized and abominable paradigm of the priesthood, which is exalted because it incarnates Christ himself on earth. Peter of Blois said, amazed: «God, who did not want to have any collaborator in the work of Creation, wants to have him in the work of Redemption». And this curate is the priest.
This sacrosanct festivity must be for all Catholics an intensely priestly day. A day to love the priesthood of Jesus Christ prolonged in the ministers of him. To thank Christ for this priceless gift. It must be a day of priestly holiness that brings us all together: pastors and laity, with one heart and one soul, to ask for many holy priests.
And it must be a day to thank the priests for their absolute dedication. The priest acts in the person of Christ… He forgives with God’s forgiveness, bears his Word which becomes incarnate in his own word, perpetuates the real presence of Christ among us… If sometimes his personal insufficiency disappoints us, let us think that God has not hindered him. Let us consider the weight of the divine dignity that he carries within. And how many times have we not helped this or that priest to improve himself! How many of us have sunk it even deeper into isolation, with misunderstanding and slander!
It is time to speak courageously of the priestly life as of inestimable value and a splendid and privileged way of life, because it is founded on the irrevocable Word of God. Because the priest is at the service of all men. And because – paraphrasing Cardinal Juan M. Lustiger – his action is not limited by his own ability to act, but is inscribed in the action of God who works through him.
We would like to convey to all the priests of the world the testimony of our support, our solidarity, our love… To all of us we say: Thank you, dear priests!
Text extracted from the magazine AVE MARÍA, number 763
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